Inspiring and inciting awareness of social and environmental issues around the world through the transformative power of art.

FALL 2009

IN THIS ISSUE

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Friends:

I'm pleased to offer this update of Art Works for Change. The past few months have been a whirlwind as our first exhibition, Off the Beaten Path, not only has gotten off the ground but has begun to amass an impressive itinerary for the coming years. The reviews are coming in -- not just from media but also from individuals and organizations that have been touched by the exhibition's powerful images and words.

As you'll see below, we're also working to develop two additional exhibitions -- again with strong interest from partners and leading museums around the world.

I look forward to your comments. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have ideas of funders, partners, or media organizations that should know about our work. rjr@artworksforchange.org

Thanks and best wishes.

Randy Jayne Rosenberg
Executive Director and Chief Curator

ROYAL TREATMENT AT WORLD PREMIERE IN OSLO

The world premiere of our newest show, Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women and Art, enjoyed great fanfare in Oslo, Norway, June 20, 2009, at the Stenersen Museum. Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Norwegian artist Lise Bjorne Linnert, Israeli artist Miri Nishri, Portuguese artist Luciana Fina, South Korean artist Mjung-Jin Kim, and the show's American curator Randy Jayne Rosenberg were in attendance at the opening. The Norwegian press provided extensive coverage including a prime time television show, a review on national radio and an article in the daily national newspaper, among others.

EXHIBITION HEADS TO SAN DIEGO FOR NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

The University Art Gallery at the University of California, San Diego, is hosting Off the Beaten Path October 23 to December 12, 2009, the show's North American premiere. The Gallery is partnering with 5 Women Who Care, Center for Community Solutions San Diego, End Violence Against Women International, Survivors of Torture, Amnesty International, The Voices and Faces Project, CASTE, Casa Cornelia Law Center, Women's Resource Center, and United 4 Iran as well as departments and programs on campus in order to create an extensive calendar of programming.
The exhibition is open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11am to 5pm. Admission is free. The gallery is located in the Mandeville Center, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA.

EXHIBITION RECEIVES NEW GRANTS

We are so pleased to announce that Off the Beaten Path has recently received funding from the Oak Foundation, the Tides Center Lambent Foundation and The Global Fund for Women. These funds enabled the actual creation of the exhibition, as well as the fabrication, crating and shipping of the artwork and collateral material. Thank you, funders!

UPCOMING VENUES FOR OFF THE BEATEN PATH

Following San Diego, the show is confirmed for the Tijuana Cultural Center/EL CUBO, Jan 8 – April 4, 2010. We are in discussions with interested venues in Mexico City, Bogotá, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Chicago, Ottawa, Toronto, London, New York City, Valencia (Spain), and Hanoi. We'll be announcing more confirmed dates and venues on our website soon.

NEW EXHIBITIONS ADDRESSING THE ENVIRONMENT

HOTSPOTS

We are pleased to announce we are planning two new art exhibitions in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme's International Year of Biodiversity. HOTSPOTS will explore the importance of biodiversity, the celebration of species, the grave situation of species extinction, and its likely impact on humans. Working within UNEP's six geographical regions, Art Works for Change will invite 12 museum-worthy contemporary artists (two from each region), to pair with one of the 34 Conservation International-designated biodiversity hotspots located within their UNEP geographical region.

Nature's Toolbox: Biomimicry, Art & Invention

In December 2010, we launch our second exhibition, Nature's Toolbox: Biomimicry, Art & Invention. This show is based on the concept of Biomimicry, a discipline that studies nature's best ideas and imitates these designs and processes to solve human challenges. We will invite six internationally renowned artists to create new artworks that explore and apply biomimetic concepts to their artworks. Many artists are inspired by nature but few learn from nature's genius as mentor and model. That is the role of biomimicry, which teaches not what we can extract from the natural world, but what we can learn from it. Nature's Toolbox will open in Nagoya, Japan, and travel globally for three years.

FEATURE: VOICES AND FACES PROJECT

Anne K. Ream, a writer and founder of The Voices and Faces Project, a documentary project created to bring the testimony of survivors of sexual violence to the attention of the public, has co-authored an opinion piece featured in the current edition of Women's ENews. "A Global Issue That's More Local Than You Think" is a call for a more compassionate and activist response to US-based victims of sex trafficking. Read it here. To find out more about The Voices and Faces Project, an Off the Beaten Path partner organization, visit: voicesandfaces.org.

ART WORKS FOR CHANGE

Art Works for Change is seeking host venues and sponsorship for all projects.

Please contact info@artworksforchange.org for more information.

Art Works For Change is a project of the non-profit Tides Center.